Revolving tray for refrigerators



R. SANTANA ET AL REVOLVING TRAY FOR REFRIGERATORS Nov. 9, 1954 Filed Dec. 16, 1952 IN V EN TORI ROBERT PSANTANA PAUL. EREZ 13) W 6 k United States Patent This invention relatesto improvements in refrigerators;

particularly those adapted for*'household=use;--

one object of'the invention :is to providesa circular: refrigerated *chest within a cabinet 'of any desired' shapew said chest. being provided with an arcuate' sliding: doorand' comprising a compartment for thel coldstorage of foodstuffs; a frozen food compartment and an ice-cube manu-' facturinggand storage compartment, the latter-two com partments being' provided each-"with. an' arcuatesliding do'cir to-isolate it from the remainder-of thechest.

Another-object of the invention is 'so to construct-said sliding doors and their runways as to make the doors'selfclosing.

Another'obje'c't of the"invention-is to provide the cold storagecompartmenthwith a plurality ofcylindrical shelves or trays rotatable individually orinunison'so as to make all of "the contents thereof 'easilyaccessib1e, and

also 'adju'sta'ble vertically-to provide 'varying' amounts 'of head room; both simplyand efficiently.

A furtherobject of the'invention is to provide'means whereby the shelves may temporarily be 'fix'ed relative to one'another-so as when rotated'topresent relatedfood- 3 stutfs present in the'several shelves at the doorway-'simul-' taneouslyi' Still another object of the invention is so to construct and arrange the axis for theshelves 'and'thebea-rin'g ruem bers"for-"sai'd--axis as'to make-both easily' removable fon cleaning or repair.

For further comprehension of the invention, and of the objects and-advantagesthereof, reference'willbe had to the following description; and: accompanying: drawings, and to theappended claims in which the various novel features of'theninvention are more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying-drawingsforminga material part of this disclosure:-

Fig; 51 is a front 'view'of 'the refrigerator of therinvention' with the three 'sli'dingdoors partially. open toillti's tratethe internal construction:

Fig-2 is a sectionalplanvieWof thelrefrigerator with" the'rsection' taken on-iin-e 22 of 'Fig. l and showing'the construction 'of the cabinet and-"one of t thetrotatingitrays and also- ;illustrating-the"over all' sliding door in closed position.

Fig.' 13 is a detailedsectionalv'iew'on"linei3-3 ofrFi'g'w: 2, of one;ofthe rotating'trays'and' themeans whereby. it

is supportedand journalledonits axis.

Fig 4 is a fra'gmentaryedgewiew of'the over-all' slid ing door and its runways and rollers.

Fig. 5 is a view of the upper bearing member for the tray axis as seen from below with the axis itself omitted.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view on line 66 of Fig. 5 of the bearing member illustrated in the latter figure but with the tray axis shown in position.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view of the bearing member illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6, but with certain parts omitted and the remaining parts shown disassembled.

Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken on a line through the center of the tray axis and illustrating the means for temporarily fixing one tray relative to another.

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary view of a portion of the overall refrigerator door and the lower runway in which it is mounted, and serves to illustrate the downward pitch of the runway.

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary sectional view on line 10-10 of Fig. l of the door of the frozen food compartment and illustrates the manner in which it is mounted.

In the illustrated instance of the invention the refrigerator cabinet 10= (Fig's.- l and 2) is 'depictedias generally \v rectangular in form, but it is-to'bef understood. thatlthe.

cabinet may be 'ofany desiredt shape;

The cabinet 10 "comprises: inner and outer metallic. sheaths or wallss'll' and-'12 respectively (Fig.2), said' sheathsbeing separated by a layer of suitable heat insulat-i ing' rnaterial' 13" and the inner :sheath 'forming a substan-zr tiall-y cylindrical refrigerated: chest. The. chest is divided up' by-"suita'bly insulated partitions into threecompartmentsfa coldg fo'o'd: storage compartment 143 (Fig. 1), a

frozen' foodcompartmentJS and'an icecube compart ment 16j the last mentioned c'ompartmentcontaininga plural-ity 'of 'ice cubetrays -17 as-shown more or less dia-m Immediately belowthe' refrig erated'" chest there is provided a warm 'storage'binorgrammatically in Fig. 1.

drawer-1811f ordinar-y construction.-

The=frozen=foed and ice cube compartments are pro-: vided with arcuate slidiri'g doors-l9 and Z0 (Fig.1 and the comple'teche'stis provided with an over-all' sliding door- 21." The' doorsmay be provided'with'any 'desired typeof-handle"s, :in the illustrated instance the doors-19 and *20"being'= provided with conventional knobs 22 and the over-all door 21 with an ordinary pull type l1andle'23 (see also'"Figi 4): Alltof the doorsuare, of'c'ourse,-suit ably insulat'ed tomaintain thedesired temperatures in the' various-compartments.

'llie over-alldoor 21"is mounted between rollers 24 (Fig1'"4')" situ'ated in' runways 25"and-26*formed in the frameworkof-the cabinet at the upper and lower-extremities respectively of-the door. Theopen ends of the runways-ZSand 26 "are sealed by felt "Qr'rubberpads 2'1 preferably: fastened tothe walls'of the runways and bearingagainst the. door: The door-way'is further insulated against the admissiorr'or' heat to the refrigerated chest by a felt or ru'bbendoor-stop and insulating pad- 28"(Pig 2) secured-to the inner wall ll'and by 'a felt or rubber strip 30 secured to" said wall: immediately adjacent theopposite sid'e'of the door-way and bearing on the door.

In order to make door 21 self clo'sing, runways 25"'and 26iare pitched downward'to the left in 1 a suitable am'ountyand thezupper andxlower edges of the door are formed not'at right angles to the lateral-edges thereof butat anglesappropriate'to the'degree'ofpitch'of the run ways; "'Thislis illustrated in Fig.9 in which thehorizontal' 7 upper edge;"of"runway-26 can be: compared with the pitched bottom' of the runway and the pitched lower edge;

Ddors -19and 20"are: also self .closingythe. two however closingin oppjosit'e directions'toward one another. Themeans whereby. this'is accomplished is substantially identica-l' forl'bothzdoors"and'a description of one will suflice thereon a pluralityfof rollersfrl situated ina grooveway 32 formed in thefifrarmework'of'the cabinet and includ- .ingia shelf-or runway: 33' engaged by said rollers.

.mate edges;

The door "construction above described" adapts a refrigerator utilizing the same to any household space large enough to accommodate the cabinet, no additional space being required as clearance for a swinging door, an advantage to which the smallness and compactness of the modern kitchen lend particular importance.

In order to provide facile access to all of the contents of the cold storage compartment said compartment is provided with a plurality of cylindrical shelves or trays 34 (Figs. 1, 2 and 3) journalled on an upright shaft 35 mounted in upper and lower assemblies 36.

Each of the trays 34 is constructed of several concentric rings 37 of tubular or light rod steel or aluminum, each welded at equidistant intervals along its periphery to similar, but radial, tubes or rods 38 which at their inner ends are welded to a sleeve or collar 40 journalled on shaft 35. The outermost tube or rod 37 has welded thereto a vertical tubular lattice 41 capped by another tubular ring 42 to form a fence to prevent articles from falling over the edge of the tray. The trays are supported Pitented..Nov. 9,195.4

vertically on shaft 35 by bearing collars 43 fastened on said shaft by means of set screws 44.

In one construction the shaft 35 is fixed in the upper and lower assemblies 36 and the trays are individually spun around on the shaft by hand, the sleeves 40 of the trays bearing on the collars 43.

In another construction, however, the shaft is itself rotatable in the upper and lower assemblies 36 and each of the trays is provided with means temporarily to fix it on the shaft in a variety of radial positions relative to the other trays. In this construction each of the assemblies 36 (Figs. 5, 6 and 7) includes a half moon bearing 45 welded to a sheet metal plate 46 which is fastened to the floor or the ceiling of the compartment by screws 47 which also pass through a sheet metal guide and protective cover 48 made in two parts and having the formation shown in the drawings to protect the bearing and to act as a guide for the shaft. Said shaft is preferably formed with a counter-shaft 50 (Fig. 1) at its upper end, the two being rigidly connected by means of set-screws 51. At its upper and lower ends shaft 35 is provided with semi-spherical concavities to receive the bearings 45.

The arrangement just described is such that the shaft may be removed merely by loosening set-screws 51 (Fig. 1), removing the guideway 48 and sliding oh" the trays, and that the bearings 45 are accessible on removal of said guideways.

In order temporarily to fix a tray 34 on the shaft in a variety of radial positions relative to the other trays, the bearing sleeve 40 of the tray is continued downward below the tray (Fig. 8) and the diameter of the section below the tray substantially increased to accommodate in bores 52 therein, coil springs 53 and ball bearings 54. At their outer ends the bores 52 are threaded to receive adjusting screws 55 by which the pressure of the springs on the ball bearings can be varied. The ball bearings cooperate detent fashion with semi-spherical indentations 56 in the shaft, said indentations being provided in tiers around the shaft. The number of tiers of indentations and the vertical spacing between them are of course dependent on the users requirements.

The construction is such that the springs 53 press the ball bearings 54 into the indentations 56 so that if the tray be turned by hand, the shaft 35 also turns and carries with it any other trays having their associated ball bearings pressed into indentations 56. The trays can temporarily be fixed relative to one another by holding one against turning while rotating one or more others to the desired position. If it is desired to disable the ball bearing detent device for one or more of the trays, all that is required is to move the tray or trays vertically to a position where the ball bearings do not engage a tier of indentations 56 and fix the tray in that position by means of the collar 43 and its set-screw 44.

The means for cooling the refrigerator may be of any suitable sort and as such means do not enter into the invention they are not illustrated or described. It may be mentioned at this point, however, that the refrigerated chest is preferably provided with a fluorescent lamp 60 automatically turned on and off in the usual manner as the door 21 is opened and closed.

While we have illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of our invention, it is to be understood that we do not limit ourselves to the precise constructions herein disclosed and the right is reserved to all changes and modifications coming within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

1. In the cold storage compartment of a household refrigerator the combination, of a vertical, rotatable shaft comprising a plurality of telescoping sections adjustably connected together, a plurality of cylindrical trays supported on said shaft and each including a sleeve embracing the shaft, a plurality of bores in said sleeve, a coil spring and a ball bearing in each of said bores, a plurality of tiers of semispherical indentations in said shaft for cooperation, detent fashion, with said ball bearings, and a bearing collar adjustably fixed on the shaft below each of said trays, said sleeve bearing on said collar to support the tray.

2. In the cold storage compartment of a household refrigerator the combination, of a vertical, rotatable shaft comprising a plurality of telescoping sections adjustably connected together, a plurality of cylindrical trays supported on said shaft and each including a sleeve embracing the shaft, a plurality of bores in said sleeve, a coil spring and a ball bearing in each of said bores, an adjusting screw to vary the pressure of said spring on said ball bearing, a plurality of tiers of semispherical indentations in said shaft for cooperation, detent fashion, with said ball bearings, and a bearing collar adjustably fixed on the shaft below each of said trays, said sleeve bearing on said collar to support the tray.

3. In the cold storage compartment of a household refrigerator the combination, of a vertical, rotatable shaft comprising a plurality of telescoping sections adjustably connected together and having semi-spherical concavities in either end, half moon bearings secured to the ceiling and floor of said chest and engaging in said concavities, a sheet metal cover for each half moon bearing, said cover acting also as a guide for said shaft, a plurality of cylindrical trays supported on said shaft and each including a sleeve embracing the shaft, a plurality of bores in said sleeve, a coil spring and a ball bearing in each of said bores, a plurality of tiers of semi-spherical indentations in said shaft for cooperation, detent fashion, with said ball bearings, and a bearing collar adjustably fixed on the shaft below each of said trays, said sleeve bearing on said collar to support the tray.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date D. 108,559 Boyce et al Feb. 22, 1938 123,295 Sanford et al Jan. 30, 1872 799,233 Hubbell Sept. 12, 1905 844,754 Sardou et a1. Feb. 19, 1907 1,474,847 Phillips Nov. 20, 1923 1,698,509 Probert Jan. 8, 1929 1,748,670 Craft Feb. 25, 1930 2,182,003 Roark Dec. 5, 1939 2,347,985 Beersman May 2, 1944 2,457,919 Ramsey Jan. 4, 1949 2,565,426 Hayes Aug. 21, 1951 2,596,316 White May 13, 1952 2,624,650 De Perales Jan. 6, 1953 2,638,400 Spotts May 12, 1953 

